LakeBTC (lakebtc.com) was launched in 2013 as a provider of cryptocurrency exchange services. The company’s legitimacy has been evaluated based on the items listed below. Every individual item has been checked for the presence of obvious red flags or warning signals. If these are present, an explanation detailing what triggered them has been included. A detailed description of the reasons to evaluate each of the included items can be found below the table.

Business

Total Flags: 6 (3 Warnings = 1 Flag)

Headquarter location

Shanghai, China (high risk country)

Experience

Less than five years (operating since 2013)

Verified Address

LakeBTC is said to be located at:

Suite 606 231-1 Ludi Avenue Kunshan, 215332 China

The website, however, doesn't confirm this. LakeBanker (a LakeBTC spin-off) does mention the following address:

185 Moyu Road, 11F, Shanghai, China, 201805.

The website's WHOIS information doesn't clear anything up, as it points to New York:

270 7th Ave 10013 NY United States

No address is known for LakeBTC's parent company.

Verified Owner

Thomas Xie is the founder and CEO of LakeBTC

Business Registration

The company is ultimately owned by Lake Investments Limited on the British Virgin Islands (BVI). There are no facilities for carrying out direct online searches for companies registered in the BVI. There is a Lake Investments Limited (registered on the BVI) being mentioned in the infamous Panama Papers, although it is hard to confirm that this concerns the same company.

Financial Regulator Registration

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is reponsible for the financial sector on the BVI, but a registration could not be confirmed (also see Business Registration).

In China the the People's Bank of China (PBoC) has been pushing to regulate Bitcoin more stringently, but exchanges are not regulated national level. Commercial banks and payment companies are prohibited from handling Bitcoin transactions, and a licensing process for Bitcoin exchange services has yet to appear.

Operating License

Not regulated.

Service Disruptions & Unbusinesslike Conduct

The company website is providing little disclosure on the corporate background. No address is provided, and little information is offered on the parent company.

Audit

Financial Audit

None

Governance Audit

None

Website

Website Design

Good

Grammar on Website

Good

Funding Options

Various

Contact Information

No address provided

Risk Disclosure

Good

Persuasion

Source Credibility

N/A

Social Proof

N/A

Reciprocity

N/A

Note that items with a warning instead of a flag indicate that these could occur at a legitimate company. For example, legitimate companies may hand out some kind of referral bonus. Multiple warnings will, however, still trigger a flag. A description for the listed items is provided below. This list is meant to assist with identifying the most obvious dangers, and therefore does not provide any guarantees.

Headquarter LocationEven though Bitcoin’s legal status is uncertain in most of the developed world, there are certain countries that take a more hostile stance towards the digital currency industry. For example, trading Bitcoin in Bangladesh could lead to a punishment of up to 12 years in prison, and also Russia has considered jail time for Bitcoin users. Another example is China. The country didn’t ban Bitcoin, but it did ban banking institutions and employees from engaging in Bitcoin business through banking, as well as servicing or doing business with the Bitcoin industry.

ExperienceExchanges that have been running for a long time are more likely to have a battle-tested trading platform, as well as proper policies/procedures to deal with regulatory requirements and uncertainties.

Business Verification First, you should never hand your hard-earned money over without knowing where it is going. Second, you should do a background check to avoid handing it to a known scammer. Be weary of people without an online identity. Scammers will typically try to hide their identity or conceal their true identity to avoid being easily discovered.

Business Registration Businesses are typically required to register at the local Company Register. However, not every registration is equal, for example, Companies House (United Kingdom) does not actively check addresses and names. Hence a registration here doesn’t hold any real value. In any case, a failure to register would indicate that the company is most likely operating illegally.

Financial Regulator RegistrationSimilar to a regular business registration, some countries require Bitcoin exchanges and payment processor to register with the financial regulator. In the United States the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ruled that these types of companies are money transmitters, and should therefore register as Money Services Businesses. As a result, these platforms must also comply with stricter regulation such as anti-money laundering laws.

Operating LicenseBeing registered doesn’t equal having the proper operating license. To achieve a fully legal status the license needs to cover the activities of the company. In fact, even exchanges with a money transmitter license may still be operating in a regulatory grey area, because Bitcoin exchanges are special cases. This is why New York invented the BitLicense, and why some platforms are applying for an even stricter banking license.

Service Disruptions & Unbusinesslike Conduct A businesses can be expected to behave professionally. This means that at a minimum a professional must comply with relevant laws and regulations. Besides the rules, professionals should also respect their customers and act in their best interests. It is hard to specify these “unwritten rules” of ethical behavior, but we certainly do know when they are broken.

Audits Audits certainly do not root out every instance of fraud, but independent (public) audits do provide some comfort in the sense that systems, numbers and policies/procedures have at least been reviewed by a third party (preferably a professional).

Website Design Amateurish, cluttered and disorganized websites can point to a scam as many scam sites use text and images from legit websites and other sources which may not work together very well.

Grammar on Website Similar to the website’s design, limited English proficiency can point to a scam.

Funding Options Even though cryptocurrency funding options are logical for a cryptocurrency company, it is also very convenient for scammers as the recipient essentially remains anonymous. Hence a lack of alternative funding options should still be considered a warning signal.

Contact Information Legitimate companies have very little reason not to list their contact information.

Risks Disclosure Fraudsters will do anything to provide a false sense of security. Actions may include misrepresenting, or even non-disclosure of risks involved.

Source Credibility Persuasion is more likely when the source presents itself as being credible, expert and trustworthy. Common tactics used by scammers to make themselves look legitimate is to pretend to be someone they are not. Alternatively, credibility can also be attained externally with claims such as “Warren Buffet is already using this service”.

Social Proof Fraudsters take advantage of herd behavior by creating the illusion of consensus or social proof that the service is legitimate with claims that “everybody is already using it”, or by setting up extensive referral programs in which members encourage their friends and associates to invest as well. This automatically triggers something in the mind that says: “if everybody [or someone from the inner circle] wants it, it must be good”.

Reciprocity A business is likely to receive far more of our trust when it provides a lot of free value. This happens because of the rule of reciprocity, which causes us to tend to feel obligated to return favors after people do favors for us.